grimlock3000
Aquarium Advice Addict
Last night at 7PM I lost power at my house. Outside temp was about 20F, winds gusting the 40mph and snow was coming down very rapidly which is bad news for getting the power reconnected in a hurry 
This did not phase me a bit, since I had a rackmount 1400VA APC UPS unit ready and waiting. So, I hook up my protein skimmer and heater to the UPS, should be good for about 5 to 8 hours depending on the heater usage. I wrap the tank in two blankets to help out the heater. 45 minutes later, the UPS dies! Must be a bad battery problem in the UPS since there is no way it should have died in 45 minutes with less than 75 watts of current draw. I go digging through my basement and find a 350VA UPS, I hook this up but I did not expect it to last long, so I am running just a powerhead off it to keep the water moving. 4 hours later, that UPS runs out of power, the power is still out in my house.
This is when I really started to worry, since my house temp was down to about 58F and it was 2AM. A while ago I bought one of these, then proceeded to lose it when I move into my new house:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3692&N=2004+113402
I found it in my basement after some frantic searching, stuck new batteries in it, then swapped it between my freshwater and my saltwater tank through the night to make sure each ware aerated. This morning, my salt tank was down to low 60s F but everything appeared to still be moving (very slowly), the freshwater tank was possibly slightly colder, but the thermometer does not read that low. And it was 50 in my house! I had to go to work so I stuck and extra blanket over each tank and crossed my fingers.
Around 10AM today, the power finally turned back on, my wife was home and made sure everything was swimming. I am leaving both tanks in the dark for the whole day in the temperature changes likely stessed the livestock quite a bit.
At this point, I am going to purchase a generator or at the very least, stick a woodstove in my house to keep it warm. Also I am going to buy a box of heat packs that I can tape to the outside of the tank if this happens again. Had I lost the saltwater tank, I would have lost more than the cost of buying a generator...
This did not phase me a bit, since I had a rackmount 1400VA APC UPS unit ready and waiting. So, I hook up my protein skimmer and heater to the UPS, should be good for about 5 to 8 hours depending on the heater usage. I wrap the tank in two blankets to help out the heater. 45 minutes later, the UPS dies! Must be a bad battery problem in the UPS since there is no way it should have died in 45 minutes with less than 75 watts of current draw. I go digging through my basement and find a 350VA UPS, I hook this up but I did not expect it to last long, so I am running just a powerhead off it to keep the water moving. 4 hours later, that UPS runs out of power, the power is still out in my house. This is when I really started to worry, since my house temp was down to about 58F and it was 2AM. A while ago I bought one of these, then proceeded to lose it when I move into my new house:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3692&N=2004+113402
I found it in my basement after some frantic searching, stuck new batteries in it, then swapped it between my freshwater and my saltwater tank through the night to make sure each ware aerated. This morning, my salt tank was down to low 60s F but everything appeared to still be moving (very slowly), the freshwater tank was possibly slightly colder, but the thermometer does not read that low. And it was 50 in my house! I had to go to work so I stuck and extra blanket over each tank and crossed my fingers.
Around 10AM today, the power finally turned back on, my wife was home and made sure everything was swimming. I am leaving both tanks in the dark for the whole day in the temperature changes likely stessed the livestock quite a bit.
At this point, I am going to purchase a generator or at the very least, stick a woodstove in my house to keep it warm. Also I am going to buy a box of heat packs that I can tape to the outside of the tank if this happens again. Had I lost the saltwater tank, I would have lost more than the cost of buying a generator...
